Review: Witch Breed (Hell's Underground 4) by Alan Gibbons

When Paul arrives in 17th century London, he expects to be thrown into a life or death struggle for the three gates that imprison the ancient King Lud. But the battle doesn't come. Instead, Paul roams alone, learning how to survive in a city where all the talk is of the savage civil war that rages beyond its ramparts. Somewhere underground, Lud is waiting in his crypt, preparing to rise again. War, fear and want are his tools. But Paul too has his own weapons and is gaining strength and losing inhibitions about using it. Meanwhile, beyond the city, innocent women are being killed for it is so easy to claim that they are witches. One woman - whether innocent or guilty - possesses the only power available that can help Paul in his quest.

Back in April, as part of my horror themed month, I reviewed the whole series (so far) of Alan Gibbons' Hell's Underground books. At the time I was somewhat effusive with my praise for the series. Now Witch Breed, the fourth book in the series, has been published and I feel very confident in proclaiming that in my opinion this is the best YA horror series around today. Yes, Darren Shan is the name that will spring to the minds of most young people when asked to name a writer of YA horror, but his Demonata stories can appear amateurish in comparison with the output of Alan Gibbons. And I am not the only person who feels this way about these books - there are two wonderful comments attached to the review that I wrote in April, one from an adult horror fiction fan and another from a 15 year old girl, and both of them are as enthusiastic about these books as I am (and rather more eloquent in their enthusiasm too).

Witch Breed is different from the previous three books. In these we saw Paul Rector very much in the middle of things from the moment he arrives in each new time period, and following the dramatic climax of Renegade you would be forgiven for expecting something pretty much the same from this book. However, there are moments throughout Witch Breed where you may find yourself wondering exactly who the main character is. Is it Paul? Or is it Grace Fletcher, soon to be trialled for witchcraft? Or perhaps it is Netty, Paul's 21st Century girlfriend who has been brought back in time by the evil Nathanael Rector as bait to lure and destroy Paul? The reason for this doubt is that for a large part of the book the story's viewpoint jumps around between characters, each having an important story requiring our attentio, and yet at no point does this become confusing - Mr Gibbons accomplishes it with seemingly effortless ease, and in doing so ratchets up the tension to even greater highs.

For a horror writer this is such a great period in British history to focus on. It is 1645, slap bang in the middle of the English Civil War, but more importantly it is the time when Matthew Hopkins, the so-called Witchfinder General, was travelling around Eastern England with his assistant John Stearne persecuting scores of innocent women and having them executed as witches. Sometimes when requiring a diabolically evil villain an author need look no further than the history books and Mr Gibbons' use of Hopkins and Stearne in the plot of Witch Breed is perfect. 

Coming off the back of the failure he experienced in Renegade, we begin to see another side of Paul's character in Witch Breed. Whereas in previous books we saw him slowly gain in confidence, especially as he realised that he could acquire the powers of the demons he killed, we now see him have many moments of self-doubt and confusion. Can a boy really defeat the ancient evil of King Lud, given the demonic resources this creature has under his control? Is he just a pawn of Cormac and the Priests of Beltane? And then when Netty suddenly appears in the 17th Century all previous plans are out of the window as Paul's priorites shift, with potentially disastrous consequences. In the other books Paul has often had to rely on the assistance of others in order to reach his goals, but this help becomes even more essential in Witch Breed as we discover that despite everything he has been through, and the powers he has developed, Paul is still at heart a normal teenager, and still has many of the flaws, worries and doubts that any young person would have.

Of course, despite the nastiness of Hopkins and Stearne, there is still a Rector ancestor for Paul to contend with, and this time it is Nathanael. This Rector, though, is not given quite the page count that family members in the previous books have enjoyed, but we are still left in no doubt as to the shear evil and ruthlessness of this man. After the entourage of evil that surrounded Samuel Rector in the previous books I didn't think Alan Gibbons would be able to follow it up with a similarly memorable band of demonic followers for Nathanael. Oh me of little faith! Yet again, the author has created a terrifying bunch of monsters for Paul to pit his wits against, and these demon riders come with names such as Lamedog, Ratshade, Claypin, and my absolute favourite, Suckvenom.

If you love horror and haven't yet discovered this series then you must make it a priority - you will not be disappointed. If the trials of Paul Rector are already known to you then this fourth book in the series was published by Orion on 1st July so what are you waiting for? I am very thankful to the ever-generous Nina Douglas at Orion for sending me a copy, but as ever with this series I am left waiting greedily for the next in the series, whenever that may be. 

Review: Street Heroes by Joe Layburn

Georgie's dad, George Smith is a highly controversial politician whose message is to get rid of non-white people from London's East End. Everyone assumes Georgie shares his father's views, even his father. But while he loves his dad, he's really not sure what he thinks. And then he begins to hear a voice in his head, the voice of a Muslim girl called Fatima ... Meanwhile Fatima is also contacting other children in difficult situations. When an attempt is made to kill George Smith he responds by planning a repeat of the historical Battle of Cable Street when Fascists demonstrating against Jewish immigrants confronted local people. How can the mysterious Fatima and her gang stop Smith, and which side will Georgie be on?

If you believe the media then young people today are either hoodie-wearing thugs who hang around on street corners causing mischief and accumulating ASBOs, or they are computer game obsessives who rarely interact with others except at school or via MSN. If you believe the media then young people today have little interest in current affairs or politics. However, as any primary or secondary school teacher and they will tell you that children who fit these labels are very much in the minority and instead, they are very much concerned about the issues affecting modern Britain. Issues such as knife crime, racism and religious fundamentalism are very much on their minds as they try to make sense of their world and that is why books like Joe Layburn's Street Heroes are so important.

The publishers bill this book as "a Heroes for children". I'm not sure this is an accurate comparison as there is no team of characters with super-powers tasked with saving the world. Instead we have the mysterious Fatima, a young muslim girl who is able to link telepathically with any number of other children, and it is a handful of these children who narrate the story for us. The first chapter introduces us to Georgie, son of George Smith, the leader of the British Fascists. Georgie is still trying to find his own identity in the world, but his is not an easy lot, with a fiercely nationalist father as his primary male influence, and the taunts he receives from his peers at school as a result of this. Of course, the last thing he expects is to hear the voice of a young muslim girl in his head. 

Next up we meet Omar, a young Muslim boy who just happens to be Fatima's brother. Fatima's telepathic communication is nothing new to Omar as she has always been able to get inside his head. However, his principle worry is his brother Sadiq, an angry young teenager who Omah feels is on the verge of Fundamentalism and when he finds a scrapbook about George Smith and his family under Sadiq's mattress Omah's concerns multiply exponentially.

Finally we are introduced to Melissa, and ten-year old girl with behavioural issues. She is also signiifcantly larger than most of the other chidlren in her class at school, and as a result of this combination she has no friends and delights in being nasty to others. Along come the voice of Fatima, and we very soon see a marked change in Melissa's self-estemm and her attitude towards the people around her.

In a mere 132 pages Joe Layburn delivers a group of characters that children of 9+ will find find easy to associate with. He also manages to deliver a very important message about racial and religious tolerance without coming across as 'preachy'. One of the tools he uses to achieve this is by bringing factuak anecdote into the plot - in this case the very real Battle of Cable Street, when Oswald Mosley attempted to lead his Blackshirts through this predominantly Jewish area back in 1936. The shameful event in the history of Britain is used well to highlight the dangers of fascism both then and today, and how normal people can successfully group together to fight these exremist attitiudes.

This is definitely a book for younger readers, and I feel that teenagers will find it below them despite its important message. The 9+ age group will find some of the vocabulary challenging, but this is a good thing as this is how young people develop their own confidence in the use of language. The story is certainly set at the right level for children of this age. Street Heroes is published by Frances Lincoln, who kindly sent me a copy of this book, and is available to buy right now.

** Guest Post: Sarwat Chadda (Author of Dark Goddess)

On Sunday I posted a review of the brilliant Dark Goddess by Sarwat Chadda. Dark Goddess was officially published yesterday and Sarwat is currently on a blog tour in celebration of this. I was very flattered when Sarwat approached me asking if he could visit The Book Zone on this tour, and I think his choice of topic for this blog post is perfect.

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I’ve written a book that the Guardian called “mythic, funny, violent and fast-moving”. It’s part of an action series about a teen who’s been trained as a Knight Templar. It’s about facing down devils, vampires, ghouls with swords and axes and it’s about as bloody as it can get.

The protagonist’s father is ruthless, single-minded and the Templar Master. He’s brought up his child to be his replacement. The child, if anything, is harder, tougher, more deadly that he could dream of being. It’s all in the classic ‘child inherits the mantle of the father’ tradition. You’ve had it in Star Wars. You’ve got it in Harry Potter. Percy Jackson. Alex Rider. You’ve got it in Conan the Barbarian.

It’s perhaps the biggest tradition in boys’ action series.

That’s what I’ve got for you. Interested?

Except...

Except my hero’s a heroine.

What? You’ve stopped reading?

That’s what they say. Boys won’t read girl leads. No matter what.

So, you guys who’ve read Phillip Pullman, please put your copies in the bin. The same with those of you who’ve read Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines. And Skulduggery Pleasant (book has his name on the front but the lead’s Stephanie, sorry). The list goes on and on. No-one with X and Y chromosomes should be watching Buffy. Heaven forbid they should play Tomb Raider!

I know, I know. You don’t want to read about girls whining in their bedrooms because their boyfriend doesn’t call and why can’t they be more skinny and beautiful and all that. Neither do I. I want to read stories where the lead goes out and makes a difference. A story where the hero’s pushed beyond their limits and somehow, through guts, blood and tears they beat the odds. That’s what I read and that’s what I write.

Who came up with this crap anyway? Some librarian in the 1930’s who had one shelf of Jane Austen and one shelf of Tarzan and noticed the boys went to the Tarzan shelf? Well, who wouldn’t? Tarzan is insane! The books are brutal, primitive and beautiful. What happens in Pride and Prejudice? They sit around moaning for 400 pages and get married and live happily ever after. Not a single elephant stampede anywhere!

I know boys read girl heroes. My biggest events are at boys’ schools. Blimey, my biggest sales are at boys’ schools. They can’t all be buying them for their mother.

What do you want in a book? I know what I want. Action. High stakes. Intense drama. Violence and the ‘all or nothing’ victory. Bad guys. Conflicted anti-heroes (no white-hats please). You might be surprised a lot of them are of the female persuasion. Isn’t it a shame to miss out?

Here’s five of the best that fulfil the above criteria and I guarantee you adventure that’ll boil your blood and freeze your heart.

1. Lyra out of Phillip Pullman’s Northern Lights trilogy.

2. Hester from Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines saga.

3. Josie, knife-thrower extra-ordinaire from John Mayhew’s Mortlock.

4. Scout from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird. Hey, I needed to put one classic in the list, didn’t I?

5. Katniss in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Get them. Read them. Lend them to your mother. You’ll thank me later.

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A big thank you to Sarwat for taking the time to write that article for us. If you want to find out more about the man and his books please do visit his website and his blog and don't forget to enter my contest to win a signed copy of Dark Goddess.